


Drifter

by ArisenFromNightmares



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Post Okumura Palace, World Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-07 21:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13443663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArisenFromNightmares/pseuds/ArisenFromNightmares
Summary: The Phantom Thieves are still recovering from the events of Okumura's Palace when a new face arrives, although he has the potential to wield the power, he lacks something to rebel against.Queen, unwilling to accept his attitude is gonna force him into fighting shape, even if it kills him.





	1. Not Quite Woken

Roujiro Kurisamé wasn’t much of anything when it came to being a “somebody”.

 He was a quiet young man, wanting nothing more then to walk his own beat and carry on with his nomadic life.

It was something that changed when he landed in Shibuya, Japan and ran afoul of what he would come to know as The Metaverse and became a Phantom Thief.

But unlike his companions, who all had their reasons to rebel against society and had they transformations be dramatic ones, his was more of a quiet storm, a simmering boil that caused his Persona to render itself transparent and unstable.

“It’s fine Roujiro, even I had a hard time using my Persona at first. But thanks to Akira-kun and the others I learned to harness Milady, you just need to face whatever it is that’s keeping you from unleashing your own power.” Haru Okumura may have been the freshest of the Phantom Thieves (besides Roujiro himself) but the way she spoke made it feel like she was very much his superior. “We all have someone or something to rebel against. For me, it was my father’s expectations of me to marry a man I had no interest to further his rise in power and gain political power.” The orange-haired young woman would frown, talking about her father was quite the sore spot for her, and having just helped to bury him only served to pour salt in an already open wound.

“Senpai, I’m sorry…” The raven-haired young man would reach out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, stopping once another hand would beat him to it. He didn’t need to look up to know who that comforting hand belonged to. “I..thanks for trying to help Haru, but I probably should get going.” Roujiro would stand up and remove the gardening gloves he used whenever she needed a hand, but now that their fearless leader was here, he was once again relegated to the background.

After all; Akira Kurusu and Haru Okumura were lovers, brought together by the whims of whatever made them Phantom Thieves, kept together by the strength of their own hearts.

“ _It’s not that I envy them. Far from it, they know who they are, what they’re fighting for.”_ Roujiro would sigh as he splashed water onto his face, trying to shake off the emotional weariness that was now draped onto his shoulders but persisted anyhow. “ _But me…I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing at this point, I’ve been through so many places and met so many unique people.”_ He would close his eyes and let his mind drift to the idealistic disciple he used to be, another raven-haired girl training beside him as they worked hard to master the power of martial arts and channel their inner spirit. When he first began his nomad journey, he encountered a girl with a mane of golden hair, a fiery dragon’s spirit, and a zest for adventure.

When he allowed himself to continue his travels he stopped at an island prison, sensing a deep darkness from within as he busted through the various guards and defenses to get to the bottom of such a mystery.

“ _Instead of some gigantic demon I could thrash, I ran into the only woman that could make me piss myself!”_ Roujiro shuddered visibly as he remembered the brutal fight with the woman from the prison: quick, fast, more than happy to break his spine if it came down to it. “ _If it weren’t for dumb luck on my part, I’d be a bloody smear on the wall of that prison!”_

He had run into two different martial artists and both had put him through the ringer, not only highlighting just how incomplete his training was but just how different things were now that he was outside the safety of the temple’s walls.

“I should’ve died then, but instead I’m here in a normal world..at a normal school, and yet I still get wrapped up in crazy things.” The raven-haired young man would sling his book bag over his shoulder and begin making his way toward the exit, stopping once he saw the student council president of Shujin Academy waiting at the door for him. “ _Oh God no! Not her!_

“Yes, it’s me. And no, I didn’t read your mind!” Makoto Niijima would cross her arms firmly as she stared down the newbie with a menacing aura, there was a reason that she had been given the code name Queen after all. “Now you are going to stop running, you’ve missed more than enough meetings and trips into Mementos to piss me off!” She would grab his wrist and drag him out of the school by force, ignoring the stares and hushed whispers of the other students who watch them leave.

Truly, it was going to be a very unpleasant day.   


	2. No One Needs Me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roujiro continues to protest being dragged to the meeting, although he does let the Queen into his world a bit

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Roujiro would wince as he kept trying to pull himself free from the brunette-haired woman’s grip, holding back a string of curses as Makoto Niijima continued to walk him through the street. “Dammit Senpai! We both know I’m useless to the team, I can’t even manifest my Persona!” His amber-eyes would blaze defiantly as he wrenched his wrist free and looked up at the Phantom Thieves chief strategist, it was bad enough that she could out-muscle him, she was taller to boot!

“That’s exactly why you need to stick with us, the best way for you to learn how to handle your Persona is to stick with-“ She would look around before gesturing for him to follow her into the subway station, things with them needed to be close to the vest given the mess that the Okumura case caused. “Look; I get that you have issues with authority but, right now we need all the help we can get when it comes to the Metaverse.” Her voice had softened to one of kindness, hoping to pacify the young man and get him to open up and listen.

It was a tactic that his first Master often turned to when he was a younger rebel, in a world very different from the one he was in currently.

“You **don’t** need me: Skull’s the muscle, Fox has the graceful technique, you’re the brains, Joker’s a fucking swiss army knife when it comes to Personas. Do you get it? I. Have. No. Purpose!” Roujiro would seethe as he glared at the taller woman’s bust briefly before remembering to look up into her red eyes, finding a look of sympathy instead of annoyance. “Nobody needs me, my folks sure as hell made that clear when they shipped me off to that temple when I was just a boy.” He would sigh as Makoto’s expression remained sympathetic, placing a hand on his shoulder as he turned away.

“Let go of me.”

Her grip would tighten as the raven-haired young man tried to shrug her off, Makoto may have been a hardened tactician inside the Metaverse but that was when she had to be Queen. The woman behind the mask however, she truly cared for every one of her friends and wanted nothing but the best for all of them.

“Why, so you can drift away into some lonely corner and hope that we forget all about you?” The brunette would briefly feel his muscles tense as he spun around to deliver a fist, her own body barely reacting fast enough to catch it. “And here you are saying you have nothing to offer, I’m guessing this is because of that training you mentioned.” There was a brief hint of teasing in her voice, almost as if she were impressed by his reaction despite being the group’s hand-to-hand fighter already.

“Oh please, you should see me with a pair of tonfa.” The young man would snarl as he pulled his fist back and assumed a fighting stance, the queen would raise a curious eyebrow at his actions as she glanced from him to the bookbag hesitantly. “If you really want to get inside my head, then we start talking in my language!”

She would sigh in frustration while setting her bag down, having wanted only to talk him into being a more meaningful teammate. Yet now she found herself faced with the task of fighting him instead.

“You’re being ridiculous Roujiro, fighting you isn’t going to solve anything!” Makoto would roll her eyes as he held his stance firmly, she sighed as she assumed her own stance. Fighting in thee metaverse had helped to sharpen her own prowess as a fighter, not expecting to have to use them against a friend. “We’re on the same side! Let’s just calm down and talk about this like civilized people, just you and me.”

His expression didn’t waver an inch as he started rushing at her, the woman’s own training kicking in as the two of them started to fight. Deflecting his blows as best she could as his fists seemed to miss her by inches, almost as he were testing her reflexes before kicking it into high gear.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” A station officer would jog up to them as a strike grazed her cheek, his fingertips sending a shock of warmth to her cheek before he pulled back. “Ma’am, is this man bothering you?” The officer would give a sideways glare to an equally annoyed Roujiro as he settled down and placed his hands behind her back passively, the officer reaching for his handcuffs.

“We were just practicing a scene for our theater club’s play.” Makoto would dig into her back and show her student ID, glancing over to see the young man doing the same with a placid expression in his eyes. “It’s based on an old Chinese legend: a feared martial artist makes his way across the land, challenging all those who cross his path to fight. Those who battled him were soundly beaten, the more he fought, the greater his legend grew until all of China feared the might of the Black Tiger.” She would pause briefly, taking note of the officer’s interest and Roujiro’s puzzled expression. “Eventually; the Black Tiger runs across a female martial artist who refuses to back down despite his great legend, and so the two battle throughout the day and into the night. Stopping only they could no longer stand, the Tiger would look upon this..Crimson Queen with great respect. Eventually the two would marry and bear a child of even greater legend.” Makoto would give a quiet laugh as she noticed her friend’s reddened cheeks, smiling as she looked back to the officer. “I was just helping my friend with a scene, he got picked to be the Black Tiger.”

“This little mutt, a legendary fighter? I don’t see it.” The officer would give the raven-haired young man with a shrewd expression before shaking his head. “Look, just take it somewhere else and I’ll let you off with a warning.”

“Thank you, sir.” Roujiro would give a modest bow while clasping his hands together. “May good fortune smile upon you.” He would smirk as Makoto started walking toward the train while dragging him behind her by the scruff of his jacket. “May the Seven Deities render your day, DELIGHTFUL!”

* * * * *

Back on the roof of Shujin; Akira and Haru would still be working in the vegetable garden, the leader of the Phantom Thieves was unusually quiet as he tried to breach the wall of silence between them.

“This should be good enough for today, it’s almost time for us to meet the others at Leblanc.” The orange-haired woman would wipe the sweat from her brow, satisfied with the work that she had put in for thee day. Even before meeting Akira and the others; the place had always proven to be a sanctuary from her father’s rigorous demands, and a much-needed distraction from the grief that came with his passing. “I only hope that all of us will actually be there.”

“Haru, are you sure you’re okay? The funeral was only a couple of days ago..and yet you’re already back at school.” His dark gray eyes probing her for any sign of exasperation, seeing only the usual weariness that came from working in the garden. “I don’t think the school would’ve minded if you took a few more days.”

 “I’m fine Akira-kun, really I could use the distraction.” She would put on a glowing smile, hoping to convince of her wellness and pressing forward when he was about to object. “The board of directors at my father’s company are handling much of the bigger company issues after all, it leaves me with much more time to tend to the garden here and the one I’ve started at home.” The orange-haired beauty would clutch the bottom end of her pink sweater noticeably as she tried to smile, even as her eyes seemed to fill with tears. “I just..needed to keep busy.”

The wavy-haired young man would wrap his arms around his girlfriend gently, letting her sob quietly as she clutched his jacket sleeves.

“How could this have happened, we did everything the way Morgana explained it!” Her shoulders would quake visibly as her sobs grew heavier, leaving the glasses-wearing young man at a loss for words. “So why, why did my father have to die?!” Haru was very much a heartbroken child, trying to come to grips with the loss of her remaining parent and looking to her boyfriend as a beacon of hope.

“I’m..not sure Haru, all I do know is that I and the others will be here for you. You won’t have to go through any of this alone.” Akira would calmly run his fingers through her hair, humming a tune as he did his best to soothe her wounded soul. “For now, it’s okay to cry. You don’t always have to be strong all the time.” He would continue to hum a soothing song as his beloved wept for the loss of her family.

* * * * *

“Why a tiger?”

“Hm?” Makoto would look over at the now sulking Roujiro, their train ride having been one of silence until her companion finally decided to speak up. “Well, it’s a fact that the tiger style is one of the many kung-fu styles in popular media. Also, the wrestler Tiger Mask. There was a poster of him on the station wall and I had to think on my feet.” The brunette would close the manga she had been reading and look over at him. “Why, what’s wrong with tigers?”

The raven-haired young man would ball his fists tightly, reflecting on a memory only he could see.

“Let’s just say that I got gripes with a certain practitioner of that style, and I’d really rather not be reminded of someone that pisses me off.”

This would pique the young woman’s interest as their newest recruit had yet to divulge his own troubled past, and judging by how agitated he seemed to be, it appeared to leave a rather deep wound.


End file.
